Legendary Silicon Valley investor John Doerr is relinquishing his partner role at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the venture-capital firm that helped usher in the Internet boom largely because of his early bets on Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

Mr. Doerr will take on a new role as chairman of the firm, focused on recruiting and coaching its next generation of leaders, he said Thursday. Mr. Doerr will step away from day-to-day management of the firm but said he would remain involved with investing in future funds.